Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are a professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is one of two NBA franchises that play home games in New York City; the other is the Knicks. An original member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), the Nets were founded in 1967 and initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey as the New Jersey Americans. In its early years, the team led a nomadic existence, moving to Long Island in 1968 and playing in various arenas there as the New York Nets. Led by Hall of Famer Julius "Dr. J" Erving, the Nets won two ABA championships in New York before becoming one of four ABA teams to be admitted into the NBA as part of the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. The team then moved back to New Jersey in 1977 and became the New Jersey Nets. During their time in that state, the Nets saw periods of losing and misfortune intermittent with several periods of success, which culminated in two consecutive NBA Finals appearances in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 season After 35 seasons in New Jersey, the team returned to the state of New York in 2012 to play in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn as the Brooklyn Nets. 2012–present: Move to Brooklyn In 2004, after failing to secure a deal for a new arena in Newark, New Jersey (eventually a new arena, the Prudential Center, was built in Newark for the New Jersey Devils), the YankeeNets sold the franchise to a group headed by real estate developer Bruce Ratner for $300 million, beating out a group led by Charles Kushner and Jon Corzine. While Kushner and Corzine wanted to keep the Nets in New Jersey, Ratner planned to move the team back to New York. In 2005, the Nets announced plans to locate the team in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. One of the members of the ownership group is rapper and Brooklyn native Jay-Z, who owns less than one-fifteenth of one percent but has been an outspoken face of the ownership team. The new arena, later named Barclays Center, would be the center of an extensive redevelopment project called the Atlantic Yards being constructed by Ratner's real estate development company. The new arena would be located across the street from the site that Walter O'Malley wanted to use for a new stadium for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s. That plan was rejected and resulted in the team's relocation to Los Angeles in 1958. The Nets would be the first major professional sports team to play home games in Brooklyn since the departure of the Dodgers After numerous delays to the project, Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to a $200 million deal on September 23, 2009 to become a principal owner of the Nets and a key investor in the team's proposed home in Brooklyn, bringing in much needed funding and finally allowing for the new arena to be built. After the dismissal of major pending lawsuits, groundbreaking for Barclays Center occurred on March 11, 2010. On September 26, 2011, Jay-Z, the Nets' minority owner, announced that the team's new name after the move to Brooklyn would be the Brooklyn Nets. The team officially became the Brooklyn Nets on April 30, 2012. The team's new colors were announced to be black and white, and two official logos designed by Jay-Z were unveiled. The primary logo is a shield depicting the team name 'Nets', along with a basketball with an overlaid "B". The secondary logo is the same "B-ball" surrounded by a black circle with the text "Brooklyn" and "New York". The new logo's typeface and colors are meant to evoke New York City Subway rollsigns from the 1950s when Brooklyn last had a major league sports team. This rebranding of the team led to a drastic increase in merchandise sales for the team. On the first two days that the new merchandise was available, total sales from the NBA Store were 10 times that of a typical year when the team was in New Jersey, and in the initial months of the 2012–13 NBA season, the Nets led all NBA teams in apparel sales. In the 2012 NBA Draft, Brooklyn selected İlkan Karaman, and traded for the duo of Tyshawn Taylor and Tornike Shengelia for cash. On June 29, 2012, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic met with the Magic's new General Manager Rob Hennigan in Los Angeles and demanded a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. However, once again the trade was not able to materialize, and the Nets reportedly pulled out of trade discussions on July 11, 2012. Instead, the team traded for six-time All-Star Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks. In return, the Nets sent Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, DeShawn Stevenson and a draft pick previously acquired from the Houston Rockets to Atlanta. On the same date, Deron Williams signed a five-year, $98.7 million deal to remain with the Nets. In addition, the Nets re-signed Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace to four-year deals. Together, Williams, Johnson, Wallace and Lopez were marketed by the team as the "Core Four". The Brooklyn Nets played their first game on November 3, 2012 in a 107–100 home victory over the Toronto Raptors. The first game was to be against the crosstown New York Knicks; however, that game was postponed to November 26 due to effects of Hurricane Sandy and the rescheduled game was won by the Nets in a 96–89 overtime victory in front of the soldout crowd at Barclays Center. The Nets started the season strong, going 11-4 in the month of November, and as a result, Avery Johnson won Coach of the Month for the Eastern Conference. However, in an abrupt turn of fortunes, a rough stretch in December in which Brooklyn went 3-10 led to Johnson being fired as head coach, with assistant coach P. J. Carlesimo being named interim head coach until a replacement is hired. Johnson's firing proved to be a spark for the team as Brooklyn caught fire once more, going 11-4 for the month of January, and heading into the All-Star break with a record of 31-22. Center Brook Lopez was selected to his first All-Star Game as the Nets' lone representation at the game. Riding a strong second half of the season from Deron Williams, the Nets clinched their first playoff berth since the 2006-07 season on March 21, 2013. On April 3, 2013, Brooklyn ended an eight-game road trip by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-95 for the team's 21st road win, clinching the first winning road record in the franchise's time in the NBA. Brooklyn played its first ever playoff series in the borough versus the Chicago Bulls. After defeating the undermanned Bulls in a blowout in Game 1, the Nets then proceeded to lose Games 2 and 3 before giving up a 17-point lead in the final minutes of the 4th Quarter in Game 4 and losing in overtime. The Nets would manage to win the next two games, only to lose Game 7 in Brooklyn. With the season over, the Nets announced that P. J. Carlesimo will not return as head coach. 71 On June 12, 2013, it was reported that Jason Kidd, one week removed from retiring as a player, agreed to terms with the Nets to become their new head coach. Brooklyn Nets Roster Nets Generation 1.jpg|Nets wili freind.jpg|Wiliams 4.jpg|Nets Players 5.jpg|Lets! Go! Nets! Category:Eastern Conference